Enlightenment and Belief: Based on Still Episode
by CarsRock14
Summary: Daryl and Beth at their shelter playing that darn drinking game. sigh** POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 12 "STILL". Dedicated to my fellow Caryl shippers. I would love to see this happen on 4.12 "Still". Hopefully, this will make you smile. Dixon Language and "F" words. One-shot. Caryl on. Not hateful towards Beth.


_For my fellow Caryl Shippers. Maybe we should have faith and believe like Herschel._

**The Walking Dead is not mine. All credit goes elsewhere.**

**Enlightenment and Belief**

Daryl sat staring at the fire. He watched Beth take another sip from the bottle of moonshine they found earlier that day. It'd been a surreal day. A day where he had just existed. Somehow, Daryl had found himself helping her hunt down alcohol. The girl wanted to get drunk. Hell, he could use a strong drink himself. Daryl thought finding alcohol was one of the stupidest reasons to risk their lives since this hell had all began. Yet, there wasn't much reason to even try anymore. So, in the end what did it matter the reason he died?

As Daryl sat there, he remembered how Herschel had told the group...they couldn't control how or when they died, but they could at least decide what they were dying for...Daryl took a big swig from the moonshine. The ole' man would have been so disappointed in the risk he and Beth had taken for moonshine.

"Let's play the game 'I Never'..." Beth told him eagerly.

"I Never?...What the hell's that?" Daryl asked. He'd never heard of the game. He wasn't used to playing games. Even drinking games. Drinking games were played by kids.

"The game where you tell someone something that you've never done before, and if the other person has, then they have to take a drink." Beth explained to him.

"No offense, but I think I have an advantage." He told her in a surly voice. He took another drink from the bottle.

"Well, I can just take sips." She told him undeterred. There was a look in her eyes that made Daryl relent. He knew she was young, and there was a shitload of stuff she would never experience in her (however long) life. As stupid as this seemed, he agreed.

"Okay, I've never been in jail." she told him.

Daryl took a drink. Beth's eyes widened.

"Really? What for?" Daryl just looked at her.

"Didn't know I had to explain stuff." he told her.

"You don't..." Beth said. Daryl wasn't used to feeling bad for someone. Maybe the alcohol was getting to him.

"Stealing." Daryl told her. "Stole a car and got caught." She seemed happy with his explanation and didn't ask anymore questions about it.

"Your turn." Beth told him. The way she said it reminded him that she really was still just a girl in many ways. Yeah, Beth had seen horrible things, and had to do horrible things to survive, but at her heart she was still young.

"I've never...been outside of Georgia." he told her. Beth took a sip.

"I never...graduated highschool." she told him. Daryl didn't take a sip.

"I've never...been to a fancy restaurant." Daryl told her. Beth took a drink.  
"Daddy took me to Atlanta for my Sweet 16 birthday. Fancy Italian place." She smiled at the memory, but then sadness shaded over it.

They continued on with the game. They learned other little things about each other. Daryl had never worn a suit before. Beth had never done drugs before. Daryl had wanted to go back to school. Beth had wanted to go to college. Small things, but still enlightening. He'd never shared so much with anyone before...booze could do that.

As they went on...the alcohol relaxed them even more.

Beth said, "I've never...been in-love."

Daryl started to lift the bottle to his lips, but he stopped half-way. It stayed there for a minute before he took a hesitant drink from it..

"You have?" Beth said quietly. Daryl just looked up at her. He guessed he'd always known, but he'd always pushed the thought and feelings away. It was too risky to put himself out there and admit it to himself...let alone to the other person.

Beth watched Daryl and how he had lifted the bottle and put it to his mouth and drank. Daryl's eyes told her he was somewhere else.

"What's it like?" Beth asked him. Daryl lifted his eyes to her. After a few minutes he spoke...

"It's...feeling safe with them. Small smiles. Teasing. Laughing. Knowing what they're thinking just by the look in their eyes." Daryl took a big swig from his bottle.

"Carol?" Beth asked cautiously. His eyes jumped to hers. Daryl didn't say anything.

"She could still be alive." Beth told him. "Just like the others."

Daryl winced at Carol's name. So many things he should have told Carol. So many things he should have done. He should have kissed her. Hell, he should have taken her up on her offer to fool around on the damn bus back at the farm.

The woman was his center. His balance. His fucking Zen. No matter what Rick had told him she admitted to doing, Daryl just couldn't see Carol doing it. This was just too much shit for him to emotionally deal with...Rick banishing Carol, Herschel, the prison falling...Daryl drank again.

"Fuck!" Daryl growled as he stood up. He swayed a little on his feet.

"We gotta keep going Daryl. I can't do this without you. I can't do this without you having some faith...some belief." Beth told him quietly. Daryl just looked at her. He was scared to have faith. Scared to hope he'd see Carol again. Hell, he and Beth had barely survived out here together. A woman alone would be almost impossible.

"Let's get some sleep." he grunted to her, then sat back down on the ground. Beth laid down on her palette. Her eyes stayed open for a few minutes and then she was asleep.

Daryl stared at the ceiling for a little while longer. Thoughts of Carol smiling, Carol teasing him, Carol making sure he ate enough...Carol caring about him like no one ever had before. Her caring was soft and gentle and unconditional. Beth wanted him to have faith and to believe. Daryl hadn't grown up with a father full of faith and love like Beth. The only person who had taught him anything about that was...Carol. She had always believed in him. She'd always had faith in him.

* * *

The next morning Daryl and Beth both woke with a headache. Beth obviously worse than him. He downed a bottle of water, and gave her a bottle of water telling her to drink it. They didn't speak much to one another. Daryl had woke up with more focus. He would help Beth find the others. If he couldn't find the others, then he would find a safe place for her.

Before they left their shelter he had an idea. Fire was used as purification. After sharing details of his life in the shack, he wanted to cleanse his past. Really let go of the old Daryl. The Daryl before this hell. The Daryl before the group. Before Carol.

He doused the shack with the bit of gasoline they had found inside. Striking a match he set it ablaze. Beth and Daryl stood back and watched it burn. Daryl flipped it off. Fuck the past. Fuck people who had hurt him in the past. Fuck his lack of faith.

Beth flipped it off too! Though it looked like it was the first time she'd ever flipped anything off in her life.

They watched it burn for a few minutes. Then they grabbed their stuff, and took off before it attracted any unwanted attention.

Daryl was focused on getting Beth to a safe place. Once he did, he was going to find Carol, and Daryl was going to do it believing and on faith.


End file.
